Student quarter to welcome residents within three years

Speaking on breakfast television on the private channel TV2, the minister spoke of rising enrolment figures; this autumn, more than 100,000 first-semester students began their studies for the second time in a row. At the same time, the demand for places in university halls of residence is increasing: A good 46,000 places were matched by 120,000 applications, including 57,000 applications for low-cost accommodation in the capital alone, where there are only 17,000 places in halls of residence.

An ideal location?

The 9th district would be an ideal location for a complete student city with 12-20,000 possible dormitory places, explained Hankó, referring to an unspecified industrial wasteland. Once the relevant decision has been made, the project could be realised within three years. Cost planning is currently underway and the project could be realised with external funding, among other things.

‘Good morning Fidesz!’

The Mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, reacted with great indignation to the minister’s announcements. ‘Have they only just woken up at Fidesz?’ he asked. After all, the capital had already agreed with the Orbán government in 2019 to build a student city – as part of the compromise between the government and the capital for the organisation of the World Athletics Championships. At the time, billions had been spent on planning alone before the government suddenly wanted to hand over the project largely to Fudan University, which was planning a campus in Budapest. However, there were massive protests against this from the opposition, which is why Fidesz ultimately took the Fudan project off the agenda. Affordable housing for students was no longer an issue in the government camp for years. ‘This student neighbourhood could have been built long ago if Fidesz had not been cynical and self-serving,’ wrote Karácsony on the current development in the social media.